Abstract:

Higher education institutions seek to supply the job market with competent professionals who have good working life skills, such as critical thinking, complex problem-solving, creativity and emotional & social intelligence. Competence develops best in an environment in which students can apply their skills and knowledge in practice. Therefore, it is common that universities seek to engage in active collaboration with working life partners.

Laurea University of Applied Sciences, Finland, responds to the future competence requirements in society with the LbD (“Learning by Developing”) action model. It relates to project-based learning and offers an ecosystem in which students, workplace partners and teachers learn together. Authentic workplace projects, research and partnership are the core of this pedagogical model. The LbD model integrates Laurea’s basic tasks: education, regional development, and applied research.

Based on the LbD model, Laurea has a long record of incorporating working life-oriented projects as an inherent part of the bachelor courses. A typical LbD Teaching method usually involves a genuine customer project where all parties work equally. This means that teachers, students and representatives of working life work together and they also learn from each other. All parties must have a good understanding of the principles and practices of LbD for this teaching model to work in the best possible way.

Through our experience, we have learnt that the key players of these projects (students, teachers and working life partners) often do not know what to expect and how to proceed. In this article, we want to point out the need for systematic guidance for all three parties and present some ideas for it.

In the LbD, the importance of cooperation is important in the whole context. This means that all parties need to understand what it means to learn according to the LbD model. Teachers need to change their way of thinking and teaching and understand their role in the LbD context. Customer projects often also require a skill that teachers may not already have, and this may mean that teachers may fall outside their comfort zone. Even teachers themselves often learns new things together with students and representatives of working life. Together, the whole team solves problems and creates new activities that develop working life.

Representatives of working life who participate in the LbD-based study module must also understand the principles, ideology, and pedagogical mindset of the LbD for successful collaboration. The commitment of working life representatives to collaborative projects is key to making the best use of the LbD to support teaching and student learning. Representatives of working life need to understand, then, that students are not just project workers, they are learning new things and developing and innovating clients’ businesses.

Understanding students ’way of learning and developing their competence is important. The LbD model helps students identify their skills and helps to develop and strengthen them. The authentic customer project included in the LbD adds value to student learning and the development of new skills. In genuine client projects, students deepen the skills they have learned and learn new things through hands-on activities, and thus their skills develop and deepen.

Keywords:

Pedagogy, learning by developing, competence development.